Dance of the Sylph
by AvaFyre
Summary: Unsatisfied by the lack of thrill in her job as a Pro-Hero, Leia leaves her agency and chooses to explore the world in order to hone her skills. She is settled into her adventurous lifestyle when suddenly she receives a call from her past mentor, telling her to return to U.A. Starts at the USJ arc.
1. A Call from the Past

**A/N:** Hello! I'm mainly just using this fic to practice writing action and romance scenes, so I'm not going to be taking it too, too seriously (the OC isn't going to be very developed)? I will try to keep the rest of the cast in character though.

\- Thanks for reading!

* * *

 **Chapter 1: A Call from the Past**

Strands of gold danced in the air as a gentle breeze caressed the figure of a young woman who stood by the forest edge, emerald eyes transfixed by the soft glimmers the afternoon sun created on the pond's surface a distance away. Her white sundress fluttered slightly as another gust of wind passed by, rippling the still waters of the pond, and she raised a pale white hand to secure her sun hat that had, just moments ago, been tempted to fly off.

This small clearing in the forest was still one of her favourite places to relax in despite having travelled to almost all scenic locations in the world. There was just nothing comparable to the fresh, brisk air in Canada during the spring, she thought with a pleased grin. She had just been about to lift off the ground and hover above the tall evergreens that surrounded the pond in order to get her favourite view of the clearing when her cell phone, which she swore she had put on silence, rang. Loudly. The jovial sounding ringtone echoed and disrupted the peaceful mood. Mentally growling at herself for forgetting to turn off her phone, she lifted her phone to receive the call.

"Leia speaking," she spoke tersely, still somewhat annoyed by the interruption.

"Oh! Is this Sylph?" came a bright cheerful voice from over the phone.

"…"

It had been years since someone had used her hero name, and though the calls to her hero name were extremely frequent when she first left her agency, they had stopped two years ago when she threw out her old number and got a new one under her real name, Leia.

It wasn't like she had a falling out with the society she had been serving, nor had it been because she had suffered a serious injury that forced her to retire.

No.

She had simply been bored.

In Canada, there had barely been any crime more drastic than minor scuffles on the street. Of course, some were larger than others, but when compared to what she heard from other countries…

They were fairly tame. Dull.

Eventually, after apprehending the same sort of victims for a couple of years, she had just gotten bored and had resigned. She found that the monotonous lifestyle did not suit her, and with her earnings, she chose to explore the world.

"Hello?" prompted voice uncertainly over the phone after a moment of silence.

"Yeah, I'm Sylph, but I go by Leia now," Leia answered. "Haven't been Sylph for years actually, so if this is a call to capture a villain, count me out," she replied, yawning slightly at the idea of another boring villain chase.

"Well," squeaked the voice, "It appears that I'm just in luck!"

"Oh?" queried Leia.

"This isn't about villains! Rather, I've called to talk to you about the application you sent in five years ago to the U.A. High School in Japan."

Did he just say U.A. High School?

"Wait," said Leia as a grin stretched across her face as she recognized the voice. "Principal Nezu! It's been too long since I've heard from you!"

"I've been quite busy the past few years, and it wasn't like you took initiative to check in with your poor old mentor," Nezu teased.

"I was busy as well!' complained Leia childishly.

"Of course you were," Nezu snorted, making it apparent that he didn't buy it.

Leia huffed as her mouth twitched into a fond smile. Just because she was not working didn't mean that she wasn't busy. She had a life. She explored, and she still had a bunch of places that she still wanted to explore.

"I'll apologize alright?" she playfully relented, "I just haven't kept up with U.A. since I returned to the Hero Academy in Canada after my transfer to U.A. for my second year. How's the school doing?"

"The school is doing its best, as it has always been, to push out quality heroes each year," Nezu chirped. There was a slight pause in the conversation before a quiet sigh was heard, "Unfortunately, one of our teacher's health has been declining… and recently, the villains seem to have become more restless. I'm concerned for the student's safety."

Leia waited for him to continue, but when it became apparent that he had nothing else to say, she drew the conclusion that this was the point of the entire call.

"So you want me to come and provide an extra hand? I'll be what? A guard of sorts?" she asked with distaste. "I'm sure there are tons of heroes that would be interested in helping. You know I hate that sort of stuff. I was never great with children, and besides, being a security guard just sounds dull."

Nezu gave a small chuckle. "Was I that obvious in what I wanted to ask of you?"

The silence on the other side answered his question. He could literally imagine his old pupil arching an eyebrow at his question.

"Well, that was what I wanted to ask. However!" Nezu exclaimed with a small sheepish cough, "I disagree! Things are never dull with young heroes running around the campus causing mischief—besides, I know for a fact that an attack will happen soon. And when it does happen," Nezu paused before his tone changed serious, "it'll be deadly."

Leia's eyes widened slightly. It had been a while since her mentor had used this tone. _What was happening over in Japan!?_

"How do you know?" she questioned with a slight hint of worry.

As soon as she had asked the question, she wish she hadn't. She could almost visibly see the principal's eyes light up with excitement at the chance to explain the intricacies of probabilities and his ability to predict things using his quirk, High Spec. There was nothing she could do once he started; suffering silently until he realized no one was listening was often the best option one could take. She would never deny that her mentor was brilliant, but _she_ wasn't half as genius as he was.

He droned on and on for the next forty minutes or so, and Leia continued to make the customary agreeing sounds. Understanding only a fraction of what was said, most of that information went in one ear, and out the other.

"I've lost you, haven't I?" he asked when his student failed to hum in agreement.

"After the first minute," agreed Leia.

"This brings me back," reminisced the principal.

Leia chuckled sheepishly in response.

"Well, either way," Nezu continued, "I know you aren't on a job or anything right now, so would you mind coming over to U.A within the next week so we could have a more detailed discussion face-to-face?"

Leia privately wondered how he knew that she had not taken a job but thought against asking. She didn't want another lengthy lecture. To be honest, she didn't really want the job that her old mentor was offering as she was perfectly content with travelling the world in search of more hidden locations. Her search kept her busy, and whichever villains that had crossed her paths, had often been interesting—the perfect seasoning to keep her life exciting and eventful.

Sensing his student's reluctance, Nezu threw in the lure that he knew she would not be able to resist, "I'll let you spar with one teacher of your choice when you arrive for our meeting—you don't even have to accept the position!"

Leia positively salivated at this idea. He knew her well.

The application process for U.A. was so long simply because there were always hundred-thousands of applicants each year. Hell, it had taken her 5 years to get a reply—her application had probably been buried under the mounds of the other applications. The heroes that were selected to teach were among the best. They were probably, at the very least, just as good as the most dangerous villains she had defeated and captured in the other countries for fun.

There was also the rumour that All Might, Japan's top hero, was teaching at the school.

This was a chance that Leia would not be willing to miss for anything.

"All right, if All Might is up for a small competition, then I'll be there in three days," she promised.

Nezu hesitated in his reply, something that Leia immediately noticed.

"Well," Nezu stopped as if he was deep in thought before continuing, "All Might has been really busy these past few days—you know with him being the top hero and all—so if you want to spar with him, there'll be a time limit. It can't go on for more than two hours."

 _Why did he hesitate?_ she pondered. Either way, that didn't matter to her. As long as she got her match, she didn't mind.

"I was just thinking ten minutes," answered Leia with a smirk. "After all, ten minutes, where we both go at each other in full power is often enough to determine the flow of the battle, as well as the victor," she said, quoting what Nezu had taught her years ago.

"Done! I'll see you in three days then!" said Nezu chirped cheerfully before cutting off the line. _A student after my own heart,_ he thought with a happy sniffle. _I can't wait to see how she's grown._

A grin flashed across Leia's face and excitement bubbled in her veins as she launched into the sky. She altered the natural flow of the wind currents to assist her, and within an hour, she was back in her apartment which lay snug within the quieter areas of the city. Ignoring her extremely wind-tangled hair, and the slight dryness of her eyes from travelling at a continual high speed without wearing goggles, she hastened to her laptop to search up plane tickets that would allow her to arrive in Japan in three days.

As expected, the tickets were expensive, being so close to the time of departure. But at this point in her life, money didn't matter much to her.

Without a care in the world, Leia clicked "confirm order."

Her past agency and the few random jobs she had taken up while travelling had paid her very well. What was the point of money if you didn't spend it?

She reviewed her tickets that she had just bought: the plane would be leaving tomorrow night and arriving at the destination in the afternoon of the next day.

 _Well, let's just relax for the day_ , Leia thought, as she headed to the shower.

She would pack later.

o - o - o - o - o

 _Showers must be the best thing created in this world._

With her damp hair wrapped in a large bundle on the top of her head, Leia stretched contentedly before walking over to her computer to browse the internet. Initially, she had just been scrolling through the multitude of art supplies that she had been keeping an eye on, but eventually, she somehow found herself researching the U.A. High School.

How she got from art to U.A. she would never know. The internet was a strange and mysterious thing.

First, she had curiously pulled up the roster of the teachers that were teaching there and was quite surprised to find the name 'Eraserhead' listed. She had recognized the hero-names of all the other teachers—they were famous, but she couldn't remember hearing that name on the news. Who was this person?

Inputting 'Eraserhead' into the search box lead to a small handful of links. No videos. A couple of low-quality pictures, clearly shot in the night, showed the blurry image of a slender man with a mop of shoulder-length black hair, goggles, and a scarf. Most were pictures of him moving mid-air, chasing after villains with some sort of scarf.

 _Probably an underground hero_ , she thought since she had never heard of him before.

 _I wonder what his quirk is_.

Next, she looked at the U.A. grounds. They were probably renovated since she had been a student there. Looking at the new pictures, she gaped in amazement. U.A. had so much more property now. They even had a large forest that she was sure she could feel comfortable in if things got too loud within the school, and if she wanted to hide from the obnoxious teenagers, she was positive that she would be able to find a couple of places to retreat to; the grounds were enormous.

 _Wait. Why am I searching up all this information about U.A? I'm not about to work there._

With that thought, Leia closed her laptop, ate a quick microwavable meal, flopped down onto her bed, and turned in for the night.

o - o - o - o - o

She woke up the next morning to a cheerful weather. The sun streaming through her cream-coloured window blinds created small pools of light in her bedroom. One particularly large puddle of light fell directly on the pile of mess she had created late last night on the floor.

She had been tossing the clothes that she had wanted to bring with her on the ground. Then, she had been too lazy to organize them, so she had just left it on her floor. She mentally checked off her list of comfort-wear as she folded them neatly and placed them in her luggage.

The next article of clothing caught her attention.

It was her hero costume.

She gently and fondly stroked the ironed fabric of her cape with nostalgia as she picked it up and placed them in a separate compartment of her suitcase. It had been forever since she had seen or worn it. If she was honest with herself, the time when she had received her costume had probably been one of the most exciting moments of her short-lived pro-hero career. The Department of Support in her transfer year to U.A. had been extremely accommodating to her preferences. Her costume was mostly just for aesthetics, though the goggles and the well-crafted body suit did come into play if she wanted to travel at extremely high speeds—which for the difficulty of her jobs in Canada, was not required.

Her cape, on the other hand, had just been made to offer her secrecy. The deep forest green fabric lined with earthy brown markings on its edge had often fluttered about her—like wings—whenever she had travelled at high speeds. While walking around the media, she had been content to simply pull up the hood and hide her face as she slipped back into the shadows, away from attention.

 _Well,_ Leia thought as evening settled in, _everything seems to be in order_.

Glancing fondly at her apartment once more, she mentally bid the place farewell for the next week. She would miss her pillow, but she was certain she'd be back to cuddle with it once the week or two was over.

 _Time to go_.

Leia was herded like the other passengers and placed in the squished seats. No dinner was served, and soon the majority of the people on the plane was asleep. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Squished between a portly man who snored much too loudly and between a baby who couldn't seem to stop crying made for one of the worst flight experiences she had ever had. But gradually, like most others in the plane, the earnest tugging of sleep soon pulled her into slumber.

She arrived at the hotel in the middle of the night in Japan, and she wistfully pondered about the weather that Canada would be experiencing right now: for one thing, it was bound to be degrees cooler, and she would have been out enjoying the bright afternoon sun while she sat in her forest retreat painting whatever scenes and images came to her mind.

Well, at least she would be able to see her old mentor in a couple of days.

o - o - o - o - o

When Leia awoke, the first thing she noticed was that her entire neck and body felt stiff. It might have been the plane ride, or it could have been due to the AC that had been blasting cool air directly on her non-stop for the entire night. Grumbling to herself, she proceeded to do several stretches to loosen her muscles before succumbing to her hunger. She blearily shuffled down to the first floor and was delighted by the breakfast selection that was there. _Only in Japan will I be able to eat a full meal for breakfast_ , she thought as she happily munched on the fish and finished the last bit of her rice.

Humming to herself, excited to start the day she skipped out of the hotel in hopes of touring the neighbourhood.

Her first step out the hotel was hell. _It was hot here._

She shrunk back reflexively into the cool inviting air of the hotel before she stiffened up and decided that she _really_ should acclimatize before fighting any hero, All Might or not. It would be such a waste of her time if she half-assed the fight. With a sigh, she trudged back out, and forcefully dragged herself through the streets, introducing herself to the local shopkeepers. It had really been ages since Leia had travelled to the hotter countries, and she was reminded why she had been so resistant to do so in the first place. She had always been one for the cooler climate after having lived so long in Canada.


	2. Her Return to UA

**Chapter 2: Her Return to U.A.**

Early morning rays streamed in from the curtained blinds in her hotel room in Japan as her alarm rang. She hoped that the heat wouldn't be as severe this early in the day as she exchanged her sleepwear for her jogging outfit. Grabbing her headphones and her phone, she ran out the hotel and was, thankfully, greeted with cooler air.

It was still hot, but not hellishly so.

She ran, her heart pounding in a pace that was pleasant to her. Largely, she kept out of the crowded streets and dark alleys. Any place where crime was likely to occur, she stayed away as far as possible. Her goal wasn't to go off, be a vigilante, then have to deal with the possibility of being recognized by whichever hero was patrolling that area.

She didn't want them to think that she would be re-entering the hero-world. She had no plans to, and as far as the media and public were concerned, to them, Sylph had disappeared—was gone, and would not return.

"Leia-san!" one of the locals called to her as she passed.

She halted in her run and turned to face the face the grandfatherly owner of the bookstore. "Good morning!" she greeted cheerfully. "Have you found the books already?"

"Yes I did," he replied with a throaty chuckle. Shuffling her into the store, he gestured at the small pile of books she had asked for yesterday. "Most are here, though I apologize that the catalogue on underground heroes are unavailable at the moment. People aren't often interested in it, so not many copies were printed."

"Ah, no worries," she said with a smile.

"A fan of All Might, young miss?" the shopkeeper asked, nodding his head at her book selection as he saw her out the store.

She hummed thoughtfully, thinking of the hero in question. To her, he was a distant character; ideal and intangible. She certainly respected him, but that was about all she felt towards him.

"I guess you can say so," she said with a small shrug before waving goodbye to the shopkeeper.

The rest of that day was spent holed up in her room, reading up on the hero she planned on fighting. Knowledge was power, after all. For a hero of his caliber, she wasn't going to walk into this fight blind and waste the one chance she would have to spar with him.

o - o - o - o - o

The shrill screech of her alarm clock woke her up just before noon, and she shot out of bed in excitement and dashed towards her closet to find an appropriate outfit. Today was the day she would be able to meet her old mentor. Knowing Nezu, she knew she wouldn't be fighting All Might today; he'd want to keep her in Japan for as long as possible.

Giving a fond pat to her hero costume that sat in the bottom of her luggage, she skipped out of the hotel and into the heat. Oh she was certainly going to be wearing the costume sometime this week; just thinking about the fight made her thoughts burst with anticipation as she strolled with a pleasant smile on her face towards U.A. The small residential buildings lined up neatly and tidily became less and less frequent as she neared the school, and the greenery and nature became more abundant until the dirt road and the blue expanse of the sky was all she could see.

Breaking through a particularly dense forest, she froze when she saw the steel gates that rose from the ground, towering over her, even as she tilted her head back in an attempt to see the top. Her pulse thundered strongly as the memories of the past came crashing back to her. The fun and hurdles she had overcame in this very place…

A smile stretched across her face, and without a hesitation, she presented her Pro-hero license and watched as the gates parted. _Ah.._. Leia gave a small impressed whistle. She had forgotten just how tall the twin-high rises were—and if she saw correctly, the main building had expanded even more than when she had last came here for school. She reflexively shielded her eyes from the sun as she squinted at the towers covered with rows upon rows of blue-tinted glass-paned windows. Surrounding this building was a forest that seemed to stretch on forever.

 _It is so much more stunning that I had remembered it to be_.

With a bounce of her step, she walked towards the glass doors of the school. The smile which had never left her face grew stronger when she overheard the excited chatter of the students; particularly that of a green-haired boy telling a girl with shoulder-length brown hair that he had ripped up his hero costume during combat training. _Hm._ Typical days at U.A, she thought as she reminisced about the gruelling training the school had put her through in the year that she had transferred here. After all, quality heroes only appeared after tirelessly hammering and polishing the roughened edges of a hero.

A boy with bluish-black hair, dressed in a silver armoured robot costume, blew a whistle and yelled for the other students to form two lines to board the bus. She smirked mentally and whished them good luck. They would need it, she knew, as many of her friends in second year had told her about their struggles in rescue training in the USJ during their first year. It became easier with more practice, but initially, it was one of the more difficult parts of the hero course.

She slid quietly into the glass elevators of the building, and once the soft _ping_ was heard, she exited on the 30th floor. All was still and quiet in this hallway as she crept towards her mentor's office. In fact, it would have been dead silence if not for the soft murmurings that could be heard originating from the office.

Taking care to pad softly down the hall towards her destination, any passerby would have thought that she glided across the floor for not a single sound could be heard echoing from her footsteps. She stopped just before the door when she saw the tiny crack of light seeping into the hallway and heard the typical drone of the principal lecturing an unfortunate soul.

"So glad you are here Leia! You've chosen the most excellent time to arrive."

Leia froze in the middle of her attempt to eavesdrop.

 _How does he know I'm here!? He's not watching the cameras if he's lecturing someone, and I know that I didn't make any noise on my way to his office._

Leia sighed. The Principal's quirk was just too overpowered on someone who was already extremely intelligent. Well, now that the invitation was extended, Leia straightened up and walked in, trying not to project the sheepishness she was feeling at being caught in her attempt to eavesdrop.

The first thing she noticed as she opened the door were two large strands of hair that stuck up like yellow antennas, defying gravity. They sat on top of an extremely muscular man whose signature grin was unmistakable. All Might. He was gigantic in size, and the view of him standing next to the small furry creature that was unmistakably her past mentor had her biting her lips in an attempt to not burst out in laughter.

"Hello there," he boomed. "I'm All Might! It's a pleasure to meet you!" he finished; the grin still plastered across his face as he firmly shook Leia's offered hand.

She blinked owlishly. _He was loud._

"Nice to meet you," Leia replied somewhat lamely. If she thought he radiated enthusiasm on the television screen, she was wrong. He practically oozed good cheer and loudness. Everything about him just screamed for attention from his built all the way up to his strikingly strange hair. To be frank, it was a slight bit obnoxious, and she soon found herself cowing away from him.

Nezu smiled with no small amount of pride when he saw Leia enter his office. He had been one of the many heroes who had offered her a position to shadow him for the summer of second year, and surprisingly, she had accepted despite having received offers from numerous other heroes that had ranked within the top ten in Japan.

She came to him hoping to learn the art of strategy after realizing that her recklessness and impulsivity often led her to a lot of trouble, and to points being deducted in her hero lessons. He would like to think that he had been able to pass on some form of knowledge to his student, but he knew that while he may have gotten her to take more time to think of a plan before acting, she was still impulsive—though, maybe not as reckless as she had been before. Leia was smart. He had given her various written tests, and she had passed them all in flying colours. No, her impulsivity stemmed from her personality rather than from her lack of rational thinking. He sighed then wondered how the last few years had changed her. She seemed to be calmer and more susceptible to boredom, though her thirst for a good fight as well as her love for remote, quiet places had not changed.

His regret of not having followed up on his protégé when she had returned to Canada after her transfer year at U.A. was only trumped by his panic when one day, a few years later, he had attempted to call her, only to have her agency tell him that she had disappeared. Of course he had his ways of gathering information, and eventually, after a couple of years, he finally tracked down her location and successfully obtained her new number.

Nezu clapped his hands and cleared his throat. His tail swished happily when both turned to regard him. "All Might! You are currently looking at the hero I have selected to take care of the school-guard shifts for our colleague who is presently in poor health. Why don't you give Leia here a quick tour of the school, and a run-down of what her responsibilities will be if she chooses to accept the position?"

Before Leia could even greet her old mentor or make any comment regarding this proposal, she was dragged out of the office by the enthusiastic #1 Hero.

o - o - o - o - o

All Might gave her a quick tour of the classrooms, the gyms, and the cafeteria, and talked a bit about the different departments as well as the class schedules typical for the students of U.A. High School. Right now, they were walking at a leisurely pace towards the USJ which was located thirty-minutes, by walking, from the campus.

Leia smiled. Maybe she would be able to see the group of students from the afternoon. Watch them suffer a bit during their rescue lesson like she and the others of her year did. Oh! And she would also be able to greet Thirteen!

She chuckled fondly in remembrance of her. Thirteen had always been so understanding about her struggles with teamwork and rescue lessons because of her quirk. Till this day, she still had no idea how she had managed to pass that part of the hero course…

She had a lot of thanking she had to do today if she saw her.

The afternoon sun shone brightly, the skies were a beautiful cerulean blue, there was a soft breeze that playfully curled around her hair, tangling it, and besides the heat which Leia had begun to learn to tolerate, today was a beautiful day. All Might had been regaling her of one of his rescue missions when suddenly, the boy in the robot suit that she had seen this afternoon burst out from the forest in a dead sprint, twigs and leaves sticking out of his hair, glasses askew, and eyes brimming with fear and urgency. She could hear his strained breathing from the distance as the blur rushed straight at her.

Quickly, she twisted her body in an instance to dodge, and with a rare speed, she grabbed ahold of the boy by the scruff of his costume and yanked him into a stop.

 _What the hell?_ She mentally shrieked as she released her grasp. The student stared back at them with wild eyes; his pupils blown wide in clear panic.

"Ida! What's happened!?" All Might boomed in his typical loudness when he recognized the student.

"The villains," Ida gasped, breathless. His eyes teared up as he frantically choked out, "There are villains in USJ—we are under attack! Sensei is still fighting, but when I left, Thirteen was heavily injured, and—"

"Go to the principal immediately and bring reinforcements," All Might interrupted, his expression losing its usual jovial nature as it became serious. He placed his large hand on Ida's shoulder in a show of faith, "We are counting on you."

Ida rubbed his eyes, clearing his tears, and nodded with a new determination before setting-off for the main building to complete his duty.

Leia was stunned speechless as she listened to the exchange. _Vi_ _llains in U.A.?_ But what about the barrier? How could a villain just waltz into the property—and _how had Nezu-shishou been unable to predict the attack?_

And _if_ her mentor had for some reason been unable to predict the attack… 

_The villains they were dealing with were definitely more dangerous than the average ones._

Leia snapped out of her thoughts at All Might's voice asking if she was capable of fighting. Wordlessly, she nodded and took a hold of All Might's proffered arm just before he leapt off the ground. Her eyes teared up slightly at the speed of their takeoff.

He was fast. Very fast.

They had been travelling for some time before Leia heard All Might quietly mutter under his breath.

"Shit. I've slowed down."

 _Slowed down?_

Leia gaped. For someone whose quirk was not air-based, the amount of movement he was capable of doing in the air was impressive.

 _Very_ impressive.

Of course, Leia knew that she could go much faster. She _did_ have an air-based quirk. However, she didn't have her goggles—she had left her hero outfit and equipment at home—without them, going at high speeds was reckless. Dangerous even.

But… there were kids in trouble.

o - o - o - o - o

All Might sensed his newest friend's hesitation as he leapt from tree to tree. Was she not ready for the fight? His eyes widened as he finally took notice of her outfit. Like him, she didn't have her costume on. She didn't have any equipment either, besides a dagger strapped onto her leather pants. He himself didn't really need his costume as it was just for looks, and since his quirk augmented his physical strength, he had no need for equipment either. But for some heroes, their costumes were vital.

Quickly making his decision, he landed on the ground and turned to face Sylph, "Stay here. It's fine if you are not prepared to fight."

Leia looked at him in confusion. Why would she not be ready for a fight?

She grabbed his arm when she realized he was about take off into another jump again. "I can fight," said Leia hurriedly, "Why do you think I can't?"

"Well, you don't have your hero outfit on…" All Might trailed off.

"Oh that," Leia snorted, "I've never needed my outfit to fight. Just my goggles."

"I sensed your hesitation though," he said with uncertainty edging his voice.

 _Sensed?_ She arched a brow as her gaze unconsciously drifted to the two pieces of hair that stood rather like antennas at the top of his head. She would have laughed if the situation was not so dire, but it _was_ , so she forced her face to remain straight.

"I heard you mutter that you used to be faster… and I can help you go much, _much_ faster, if you want. But at that speed, it would be dangerous if both of our eyes were closed—who knows where we would end up," Leia paused before continuing, "I was hesitating as to whether I should break my plan to you."

"I've never needed goggles even when I travelled at my highest speed." All Might proclaimed with his signature grin and his thumbs up.

She smirked.

"Ah, but your quirk, from what I gathered in my research, simply augments your body. It's true that your take-off is fast, and perhaps, even faster than mine, _b_ _ut_ , this all changes once you are in the air. No matter how fast you are on the ground, you will never be as fast me once you're in the sky. You have next to no mobility there," Leia said. Her smile widened, showing her teeth, and a spark, which put All Might slightly on edge, entered her eyes:

" _The air is my domain._ "

All Might turned the information over in his head. Even if it would damage his eyes, he was willing to give the plan a try. There were students in trouble; three minutes had already passed, and he still had two-thirds of the distance to travel. He needed to be there. Immediately.

"What's the plan?"

Her eyes lit up with excitement at the thrill of the possible danger that would fall if the plan went awry.

 _This is what I became a hero for._

She grinned and answered, "Jump, and when you reach above the forest, I'll do my thing. My quirk doesn't allow me to open my mouth, so I won't be able to talk or guide you; my eyes will also be closed the entire time since I don't have my goggles, so you'll have to tell me where to fly. In other words, I'm the engine, and you're the driver. Sounds good?"

How fast could it be? All Might pondered with skepticism.

"Sure! Let's do this." he roared. His face lost his usual grin as he crouched down, focusing his power on his legs, and burst upwards so quickly that the nearby trees were flattened by the soundwave of the take-off.

"Last advice," yelled Leia, just as they reached a few feet above the forest, "Don't let go."

And with those words, the blue of the horizon, the green of the trees, and the brown of the dirt-covered ground blended into one. His eyes felt like they were on fire, and if they went any faster, he knew that the bones of a normal human would shatter. Worst of all was that he couldn't make out anything beyond the blur his world was now reduced to.

"I DON'T KNOW WHERE WE'RE GOING!" yelled All Might. He was out of his element.

Panic settled in after a moment in silence in which Leia did not reply. Shit. She couldn't speak while using her quirk. He was on his own, and All Might couldn't remember the map of the campus to save his life; he was also terrible at mathematical calculations which would have helped in predicting the angle in which they should land.

That left…his gut instincts.

He held off for thirty seconds… forty seconds… a minute—

His instincts that had never failed him were telling, no, _yelling_ at him to land immediately. Anything more, and they would overkill the distance required to get to USJ at the speed they were travelling at.

"4 O'CLOCK DOWNWARDS!" He roared as the wind pounded against his face. Why he chose that direction, he never knew. Just sounded right.

Leia desperately hoped that he was right because depending on their current altitude, it would be too hard to change direction after the descent—though she supposed that All Might could always just smash his way through whatever was in the way of their landing. She gave a slight twitch in her fingers, subtly altering the direction of the applied wind and the air pressure while lowering the speed to prepare for a less painful landing.

They were still going to crash, but they wouldn't crash as hard.

All Might blinked rapidly, trying to moisten his eyes once he noticed that Leia had altered her speed and had started to slow down. Thank the Heavens, he thought when his eyes recovered somewhat—mainly due to his augmented vitality—and saw the opened, looming metal doors of USJ that they were swiftly approaching.

 _We're going to crash!_

But Leia had slowed down the descent enough for All Might to operate. Quickly, he tucked the young womann snug between his side and arm and adjusted his body so that he would be landing feet first.

Leia let out a little yelp of surprise as she suddenly found herself being carried like a sack of flour.

Her quirk cancelled.

To their benefit, whatever speed Leia had been moving at was inactivated, and they fell at normal speeds—which was a lot slower—through the USJ entrance and landed with a loud crash onto the ground.

Dust rose into the air, and once she felt herself settled onto the ground, she opened her eyes cautiously and blinked a couple of times to adjust her eyesight before looking at All Might who was now standing upright with an expression of intense anger painted all over his face.

o - o - o - o - o

That flight couldn't have been longer than a minute thought All Might as he landed. The ground collapsed under the force of his landing and dust rose into the air, surrounding him and Leia like a thick curtain. His eyes glinted in rage at the thought of his threated students, and his grip tightened when he noticed his fallen colleagues.

This had gone too far.

He settled Sylph down gently on the ground before he straightened up and stepped out of the crater he had created, and as the dust began to settle, he addressed the students in a voice filled with confidence and strength:

"FEAR NOT. I… AM HERE!"


	3. At First Sight

**Chapter 3:** **At First Sight**

Still hiding within the blankets of dust that had filled the air from All Might's landing, Leia watched with silent awe as the muscled figure, who strode out from the crater, announced his arrival with his booming voice. His statement of telling his allies not to fear was steady and certain, sparking a flame of hope and relief that spread like wildfire amongst his students.

The Symbol of Peace was here.

 _No one could touch them now._

What more was there to fear?

At that moment, the frantic and panicked cries she had heard from the children transformed into ecstatic cheers of joy and victory while paralyzing fear struck deeply within the villains' heart as they gazed upon the world's top hero standing above them with a look of intense rage written on his features.

 _All Might was here._

Courage filled the students, and they rallied together to counterattack their enemies without hesitation, ignoring the prospect that they could be injured. After all, _All Might was here_. No harm could come to them now.

There was nothing to fear.

 _Their Hero never lost._

One gaze upon the confident figure brimming with righteous anger quieted any possible doubts the students could possibly have in his ability to win. Their faith in him was absolute.

 _I guess that is what makes him the world's best hero_ , Leia thought with admiration, _just his presence Is enough to inspire hope in a bleak, seemingly futile situation._

 _He's amazing._

"Leia! Can you—"

Leia snapped out of her reflections at All Might's urgent call.

"Just go and have some fun with their leader and leave the minor villains to me," she interjected with a confident smirk, "I'm more than capable of handling that pathetic lot."

"The students—"

"I'll watch over them. Don't worry. Nezu wouldn't have asked me to be the guard if I couldn't handle this."

"Then I leave them in your care," stated All Might solemnly. With one last look in her direction, he took off towards their leader, intent apparent on his face.

"His takeoff really is incredibly fast," she muttered, watching as he disappeared from her view. "And to think he said that he had slowed down…"

 _Well, time to get to work_.

Leia sprung high up into the air, almost reaching the dome-ceiling of the USJ, and surveyed the situation. There were students everywhere. She immediately noticed the green-haired boy she had seen earlier being cornered by a giant creature that she had never seen before.

The creature had red, inflamed scars littered over its black humanoid body. And it wouldn't have been so strange if she had not seen its head. Where a human head should have rested, sat a narrow bird-shaped head growing out from the thickened neck which was attached to an unnaturally muscular body. Even from the distance she could see the pink, wet tissue of the brain. It was as if someone had taken a flap of skin from the top of its head and had peeled it back to expose the organ for the world to see. She gagged in disgust when its small beady eyes stared at the boy in his grasp; its beak had widened into a sadistic smile, revealing the sharp teeth that lined its mouth. Saliva pooled in his mouth, and as his tongue lolled out of its mouth to snap at the at the head of the green-haired boy who was frantically struggling in a losing fight to free himself from the creature's iron grip, she saw a blur heading the boy's way.

All Might would save him, she decided, so she switched her attention elsewhere only to notice that a mob of villains was now moving towards a small group of children who were gathered in the area meters below her, standing on the top of the USJ stairs by the entrance. They formed a protective circle around a white fallen figure with a space-helmet—

 _Thirteen!?_

Leia's heat pounded as she sped downwards towards her past teacher, the wind became a loud roar to her ears as she fell, her eyes burned, and within a millisecond she landed directly in front of the students. The ground collapsed under the impact and the students were forced back from the wind that now swirled dangerously around her. She caught the wide-eyed gaze of the girl with shoulder-length brown hair that she had seen earlier this afternoon as the girl stumbled back.

Before the girl could open her mouth, Leia bit out with anger sparking in her eyes, "What happened to Thirteen?"

The students, who had originally been eyeing the approaching villains now quickly shifted their attention to the larger possible threat that had materialized in front of them.

 _An enemy? An ally?_

"An ally," Leia responded in a clipped tone, having read the students' expression. "Name's Leia. Now answer the question," she urged impatiently with a slight growl of impatience.

The brown-haired girl opened her mouth to speak when a pink-skinned girl shrieked, "Behind you!"

Without turning around, the wind behind her formed a barrier instantaneously, capturing the bullets that the villain had sent at her and allowing them to fall harmlessly to the ground. She sniffed with disdain. Really, they had some guts launching ranged attacks at her, after all, any tangible substance that travelled freely in the air was hers to control.

A flick of her fingers swept the villains off the stairs, suspending them momentarily midair before she accelerated their downwards fall. In a flash, the villains who had just seconds ago been closing in on the students were now lying broken on the ground by the base of the stairs. Dust rose from the force the collision of the bodies with the ground and a sickening crunch rang across the USJ as their bones shattered. They were incapacitated—just shy of death. They would not be rejoining the fight again any time soon.

Leia cleared her throat, "Sorry, you were saying?" she asked the brown-haired girl who was now staring at her with fear and horror.

 _Right. Heroes aren't supposed to kill. I guess I shouldn't have let the kids see that._

There was a moment of tension in which the students looked as if they were about to take Thirteen and high-tail the hell out of her vicinity. Leia sighed.

 _I guess I shouldn't have let the kids see that._

She supposed that she hadn't behaved very hero-like. But then again, it _had_ been years since she had worked as one, and in her travels, she had never been required to hold back when fighting any stray villains that crossed her path.

"They're still alive," said Leia after a student made a move to carry Thirteen and run, "I haven't killed them—if that is what you are concerned about."

"But how can anyone survive that?" asked a boy, who had a crop of white hair covering his face, in a quivering voice.

"Ah. The knowledge on the human body and the precise position and force which causes specific bones to break is useful in that endeavour," answered Leia in what she hoped to be a friendly smile, "But, I usually only use my quirk defensively or to increase my agility when fighting during my typical day job."

She made sure not to mention that she hadn't attended her typical day job for years.

"However," Leia's face lost her smile as her voice became serious, "time is of the essence right now. Is it not?"

Eyes wide, the students hesitantly nodded in agreement as a single thought ran through their minds:

 _Better ally than foe_.

"So?" prompted Leia, "Who did that to Thirteen? There's no way a common villain would have been able to do her in."

The students exchanged several glances at each other before they gave a small nod to the brown-haired girl who then blurted out the story, "It was the shadow villain!" she cried, tears forming as she remembered the incidence, "Thirteen tried to suck him in, but the villain somehow managed to turn sensei's quirk against herself—"

"Wait, how did he do that?" asked Leia with morbid curiosity.

"I don't know," the girl blubbered, "all I know is that in one moment sensei's quirk was aimed in front of her, towards the shadow, then in the next moment, another shadow had formed behind and was using sensei's own quirk to rip her back open."

 _A warping quirk._

 _That's going to be difficult to deal with… I can't randomly attack then since I won't know when or where he may materialize to transfer the attack onto an ally, or worse, a student._

 _Well,_ she thought grimly, _a quirk of that strength must have a weakness…_

"So he looked like a shadow? Did you see a physical body? An anchor?" questioned Leia.

"Yeah, he—"

Leia's attention was interrupted when she heard All Might command, at who she assumed to be the students, to take Aizawa back to the entrance.

 _An unconscious student?_

"—Midoriya!" the girl shouted when she spotted him.

Leia quickly swung around and spotted three students hurrying towards her as fast as they could while carrying the unconscious student. The green-haired boy was among them. All Might had saved him and a few others it seemed, observed Leia with relief as she took note of a short kid with a purple suit and a girl with long, kelp green hair. She cast a lingering glance at Thirteen who was still surrounded by the students. There were no other villains in the vicinity, so while she would have liked to check up on her, that was not the priority.

She had just lifted off the ground to check on the students in the other zones when suddenly, from the corner of her eyes, she saw the green-haired boy shift the black bundle he had been carrying to the frog-like girl before sprinting back to the scene of the fight.

Back to All Might's side.

 _'What the hell is that idiot doing!?'_ Leia swore, mentally, in frustration. He wouldn't be able to help in the fight—if anything, he'd just be in the way. Within a second, she disappeared from the USJ entrance only to reappear in the distance between the green-haired boy and the unconscious student. She grabbed a solid handful of the his costume and twisted it so that he was facing her.

"Where do you think you're going?" she snapped.

o - o - o - o - o

One moment ago, Midoriya's gaze had been fixed on the familiar figure of his mentor, All Might, and in the next moment, he found himself staring into emerald green eyes that shone with irritation and a hint of worry.

 _Where did she come from!?_ He thought, slightly freaked out. _She was not there one second ago._

He watched as Asui and Mineta leapt to his defence as they moved to attack the stranger.

"Wait!" he cried hastily.

They paused.

"She's not an enemy… at least I don't think so?" he trailed off uncertainly as he shifted his gaze to the lady who had now released her grip on him. _There was something familiar about her_.

 _He had definitely seen her before. Once. Very long ago on television._

Her golden hair which glimmered under the sunlight that streamed in from the glass-panes of the USJ building accented the beautiful flecks of gold within her emerald eyes, giving her an almost ethereal appearance. He watched the wind which had been building up as she had prepared to defend against his friends' attack settle back into a gentle breeze that wrapped around her.

The breeze altogether stopped when the lady opened her mouth to reply.

"Correct. I came in with All Might to provide backup until the other teachers come. And you would be?" Leia asked.

 _Her quirk stops working when she speaks?_ Izuku pondered.

 _Wait._

 _Could she be Sylph!? The hero who got her name for her beauty and the way she would literally dance through the air as she fought her opponents without uttering a single word? The one who disappeared just as quickly as she appeared when the fight was over, leaving the public wondering if she was actually a fairy—a figment of their imagination?_

"You're Sylph," said Midoriya in awe, "You appeared in only one interview, your debut, and ever since then, you've never shown up on any other videos—well you were there, just you were moving too fast. Then five years ago, you vanished."

Leia's eyebrows lifted in surprise as she reevaluated the boy. It was true. The only clear image that the media had been able to capture had been during her debut interview. The boy must have been a hardcore hero fan to know something this obscure. She had her moment of fame during her debut like all the other new heroes did, but when she suddenly disappeared, and the media had not been able to reach her, all that remained to her name was mystery, and eventually, the public, due to the lack of videos, lost interest.

"Oh I'm Midoriya Izuku," he added with a slight blush after realizing that he had not answered her question.

"Sylph," she replied shortly, irritated that her cover had been blown already. Her plan had been to met up with her mentor, enjoy a short fight with All Might before hightailing out of the country. Her life had been bliss when the media disappeared and even more so when she had dropped her job as a hero to wander the world. She had no desire to go back to the way things were before.

Leia watched as Midoriya's face beamed with joy at the simple act of having guessed her name right. "Why are you heading back to the fight, Midoriya?"

At this question, his face fell. She clearly did not know about his mentor's condition otherwise she would have been there, helping him. He couldn't tell her either because he had promised to keep the condition a secret.

But still. He needed to be by his mentor's side. Depending on how long the fight stretched, All Might could be in danger.

Leia watched with curiosity as conflicted emotions raced through Midoriya's eyes before a desperate glance was cast in All Might's direction. _She was missing something._ It wasn't idiocy that had moved this boy to run back to the fight.

As a teacher and a hero, she would have been bound to keep the students and civilians safe. They were the priority, even above All Might and the other heroes.

However, she currently was neither, and she _so_ wanted to figure out what he was hiding.

A small mischievous grin crossed her face. _Besides, t_ _he rules don't technically apply to me yet_.

"Midoriya?"

"Yes?" he questioned with a slight tilt of his head.

"I'll allow you to go if you promise me two things."

His innocent eyes lit up, and he nodded his head vigorously.

"First, you must remain a safe distance away," began Leia, "promise me this because if anything happens to you, I'd rather not have to face the number one hero after the fight is over."

Midoriya's eyes brightened at her response. "Of course! I promise!"

"And I also need a promise that you won't tell anyone you saw 'Sylph' today." Leia straightened up with a casual air of nonchalance though her gaze bore sharply into his. "I have no intentions of letting anyone know where I am, and all it takes is a wisp of rumour for the media to come hounding after me."

He nodded understandingly though he seemed saddened by the news. "I promise," he answered seriously before he sprinted back to the fight.

Leia decided that she would quickly wrap up the situation of the unconscious student before she followed Midoriya to keep an eye on him. Just in case. She really did not want to risk All Might's ire if the boy _did_ become injured. She turned around to face the two remaining students who were carrying the unconscious body. "I suppose that you heard what I told Midoriya?" she asked with an arch of her eyebrow.

"We won't tell anyone that Sylph was here," they recited back when they saw her gaze harden at their stunned silence.

Leia dropped her glare and her lips pulled up into an easy smile. "I'll be giving all of you a quick lift back to the entrance if that's all right?"

"Of course—kero," the frog-girl replied.

"Great. I'll carry that student—just so he won't be jostled around too much during the trip," said Leia without looking at the unconscious body.

"St-student?" questioned the short purple-suited boy, who seemed to be blushing madly as he stared at her.

Her lips tugged into a small frown.

"Yeah, the unconscious student that All Might told you to bring to the entrance." Leia watched with slight confusion as the frog-girl exchanged a glance with the short boy.

"Actually—kero," the frog-girl began slowly, "He's Aizawa-sensei, _our teacher_ —kero."

 _Teacher?_ Now that she looked closer, she realized that the body was taller than the students. Dressed in all black, his presence had felt so negligible when compared to All Might's that she had not given him a second glance. _Wait if he's unconscious, doesn't that mean that both of their teachers were defeated by these villains?_

Suddenly, Leia's concern for All Might as well as Midoriya, who was at the site of the battle, grew exponentially. All Might _was_ powerful. That was a fact. But could he take on the villains who had wiped out two heroes who had been handpicked among the thousands to teach at U.A. High School? Perhaps. But then there was Midoriya's reaction. It bothered her. It was almost as if he didn't believe…

 _Almost as if he doubted All Might's ability to win against the villains._

Was All Might not the invincible man the media portrayed him to be?

 _Does Midoriya know something that I don't know?_

A sense of urgency coursed through her. She definitely had to wrap up her end as soon as possible.

Leia lifted the unconscious man as gently as she could, there wasn't many places she could touch that didn't have blood on it. Injuries marred his body; one of his elbows smelt of burnt flesh. The skin had peeled off, leaving the muscles to be directly exposed to air, bleeding. His head, which seemed to be slightly dented, was bleeding profusely so that blood covered the majority of his upper face. It appeared as if it had been repeatedly smashed into the ground. His nose might be broken as well, she thought in panic. Was he even still breathing?

Quickly, she placed a finger below his nose. She waited.

And waited.

There was nothing. No intake of air. No release of air. His nose was definitely not functioning.

A wave of relief rushed through her when she hovered her palm above his mouth. This gave slightly better results. She felt him taking small gasps of air and releasing shallow puffs of breath at irregular intervals. He was hanging on. But just barely.

"I'll be moving towards the entrance now," Leia said. Her voice sharpened with urgency. She tucked Aizawa closer to her body so that his head was now leaning against her arm in an upright position as she prepared to fly. At the students' nods, she lifted them up, and together, they floated at a slower, more careful pace towards the USJ entrance.

Leia's shirt was stained with the man's blood by the time they had reached the entrance. The students who had been protecting Thirteen, looked up in relief when they saw Leia with Asui and Mineta, but when they saw the pale, still form of the figure Leia was carrying, overwhelming worry and horror filled them. They raced over to Leia, who had just landed, to check on their teacher.

Cries of "Aizawa-sensei!" surrounded her as the students hovered around her in concern, trying to get a glimpse of their teacher's condition.

"He's alive but needs medical help immediately," announced Leia as she strode through the students to Thirteen who was now, with the help of the pink-skinned girl, propped up and awake.

"Leia," Thirteen greeted weakly.

"Thirteen," Leia returned worriedly, "how bad are your injuries?"

"I'll live if that's what you're asking," she gave a lame chuckle. "But you should bring Aizawa to Recovery Girl. He doesn't seem to be doing too well—to put lightly."

"Yes about that, All Might may need help—"

Immediately Thirteen's eyes narrowed at her old student. Did she know of All Might's condition? No, she didn't, she decided. She had always been very good at analyzing situations and making appropriate conclusions; if she had seen something that had caused her to make this specific conclusion…

They needed their backup.

Taking on an authoritative voice, Thirteen cut-in, "He might need help, and the best way for you to get help is to head back to U.A. and bring the other pro-heroes here. Bring Aizawa to U.A. and bring the reinforcements back to USJ."

"But what about the students?" Leia asked.

"They'll be fine. They're all stronger than they look," said Thirteen fondly as she glanced at the circle of students hovering around him protectively, "Besides, the three strongest villains are focused on All Might. They have what they want, so they probably won't be attacking us over here. You've taken care of most of the other villains, so just let me handle the rest."

Worry and doubt must have shone in Leia's face as Thirteen chuckled, "I'll be fine. Trust your teacher."

"Not my teacher anymore," she rallied with a small smile.

Turning to the other students who had been listening in to their conversation, she asked, "is there anyone who wants to return with me to U.A.?"

Leia had expected a bunch of hands to shoot up, but to her surprise, she was met with grim, determined faces. _They would stay_. She smiled. They really were a strong class.

"Then I'll be back," Leia promised solemnly before taking off carefully with Aizawa in her arms.

o - o - o - o - o

Flying more carefully then when she had All Might to guide her, she travelled at a lower speed as she carried the injured man. It was a tricky thing to control the wind currents, coaxing it to form a small bubble around her rather than allowing the wind pelt against her face. A necessary effort, however, as it simply wouldn't do to jostle the man in his precarious condition.

Three minutes passed. A time much longer than the ideal.

 _Please let me make it in time_.

As she sped through the skies, she chanced a glance on the injured man and noticed, now that there were no students for her to divert her focus on, that he looked familiar.

A slender man with a mop of shoulder-length blood-stained black hair and a ripped scarf. If he had yellow goggles, she would have sworn that she was currently carrying Eraserhead.

Actually, the more she stared at him, the more she became convinced that he was the elusive hero that had slipped from her mind when she had recounted her knowledge of all the current teachers of the school. Despite being unable to perfectly tell his features from his blood-covered face and broken limbs, the choice of clothing, and his general lack of presence was quite suited for an underground hero.

 _Eraserhead?_

She glanced at his face inquisitively, pondering as the wind whistled around her as she headed to U.A.

o - o - o - o - o

 _My students are in trouble_ , he thought with panic uncommon to his usual disposition as he watched the villain with a decaying quirk reach for his student. Using his last dregs of strength, he cancelled the quirk.

The villain had turned around with a mocking smile and had said something to him.

But by that point, he couldn't hear.

The next thing he knew, his face was once again brutally smashed into the ground by the monster. He felt an excruciating pain when his nose shattered from the impact. His mouth, muffled by the ground, allowed no oxygen to pass through.

He couldn't breathe.

For the first moments, it was agony, then soon enough, a strange numbing sensation had taken over his senses and lethargy had lulled him to darkness.

His last thoughts before blessed oblivion overcame him was when All Might would show up.

 _His students were in danger_.

But he couldn't, and to some degree, didn't want to, awake from the pain-free darkness his mind was trapped in.

The more he tried to resurface to consciousness, the more he experienced the blinding pain that had forced him to black out in the first place, and he returned to the shadowed depths of his mind. He wandered around in anxiety within the darkness. What was happening outside? Were his students alright?

Suddenly, the force locking his head on the ground lifted, and he felt himself being carried by strong arms before he was dragged somewhere by people who were shorter than him—probably his students, he mused.

All Might was here, he thought with relief, and backup would probably be here soon. At this thought, he allowed himself to temporarily surrender to unconsciousness.

It was a while later when he came to.

He carefully probed the surface of consciousness and found that while it would still be excruciatingly painful to resurface, it might be bearable. As he neared consciousness, he became aware of certain things.

The arms that now cradled him were soft, not very muscular.

 _Heartbeats._

Though his hearing had been damaged, he could distinctly hear the steady heartbeats as his head leaned against a soft chest. Whistling sounds, that sounded rather similar to wind, surrounded him, but strangely enough, he felt not a breeze as he lay immobile in the arms.

 _Safe._

Tentatively, he cracked his eyes open—just a slit, and at this, blinding agony hit him full force as he returned to consciousness. His eyes teared up from the pain, and a lone tear trickled down his face.

He felt the arms holding him shift as if they sensed that he had awoken.

Beautiful emerald eyes flecked with pieces of gold which reflected the sunlight filled his vision just before he submitted to pain and slipped back into blissful unconsciousness.


	4. Moonlit Encounter

**Chapter 4: Moonlit Encounter**

Leia shifted her grip when she felt rather than heard the quickened gasps from the man she held in her arms. Her heart dropped when she met the onyx eyes which were staring at her. His gaze was clouded over with intense pain and tears that she didn't think he noticed leaked from the corners of his eyes.

"We're almost to the U.A," Leia murmured softly just as his eyes fell closed again, succumbing back to unconsciousness.

Leia bit her lip nervously as her worry increased. Ever so slightly, she urged the winds to carry her faster. There was no way she would allow the man to die on her like this.

Wind whistled past her at quicker speeds, and after what felt like an eternity but was really only a minute, she spotted Nezu's office on the thirtieth the floor. To her delight, it looked as if the rest of the teachers were also there with Iida. One glance at her arms told her the man's condition was worsening, but she also had the responsibility to get the other Pro Heroes to the USJ as soon as possible… she had a nagging suspicion ever since she had seen Midoriya's and Thirteen's reaction that All Might was not all he seemed to be—that he would _need_ help.

What was this man's life to the lives of the twenty other students and the life of the Symbol of Peace?

And if this man _was_ the teacher of that bunch of children, there was no way he would be happy with her if he learnt that she had prioritized him over his class. Leia sighed as she hovered a safe distance away from the window to the Principal's office, deciding to meet the backup first before heading to the nurse's office.

Nezu's eyes widened when he saw his old pupil hovering outside his window with Eraserhead in her arms. As soon as she lifted her palm towards to the window, he immediately understood what she was going to do.

"Get back!" he barked.

Immediately, the teachers and Iida backed up and tensed, expecting the villain that Iida had told them about to appear.

"Cementoss! A wall in front of me!"

Out of nowhere, a tall looming wall appeared between the principal and the windows just in time before a loud whistling sound and the rush of the wind was heard. A sharp cracking sound echoed in the tense silence that had fallen in the room before the windows exploded. Shards of bulletproof glass rained all over the ground, and Cementoss flinched when powerful gusts of wind pushed against his barrier.

He braced himself, and just when he could not hold his barrier any longer, all traces of the wind seemed to disappear. Any pressure on his wall just suddenly vanished. He glanced with worry at the principal and was surprised when he saw Nezu's eyes etched with pride; a grin on his face.

Sensing that there was no danger, he released his hold over the wall and allowed it melt to the ground, revealing a young woman with gold-coloured hair that glistened from the sun behind her. He stiffened when her sharp emerald gaze studied him, recognizing him as the one who had created the barrier.

Cementoss noticed with no small amount of terror that she looked perfectly fine—nowhere near as tired as he had felt from the attack. Yet, he swore that he had never seen her before. He felt the rest of the teachers in the office tense again slightly when they made the same observations as him.

"Leia, your quirk has grown so much since I last saw you," Nezu chirped with misty eyes as he ran over and gave his old pupil a welcoming hug.

"I did tell you that I wasn't just wandering around doing nothing. I _was_ still training." Leia allowed a brief smile as she knelt down to return the hug. "But this isn't the time to be talking about that. Aizawa-san needs to see the Recovery Girl immediately, and I am tasked with bringing all of you back with me to the USJ."

"I can bring Aizawa-san to the nurse office," said a deep robotic-sounding voice. Leia watched as her past math teacher appeared with a clone standing beside him.

"Thank you, Ectoplasm-sensei," she said, carefully handed Aizawa over to the clone.

"Haven't been your sensei for years," the man replied with a slight hint of amusement as he sent his clone to the nurse's office.

Leia grinned sheepishly before clearing her throat. "Nezu, figure out who will be joining the battle because we need to leave as soon as possible."

"We'll all assist."

Leia arched an eyebrow, skepticism etched clearly in her gaze. "Even the boy?" she asked her mentor.

Nezu turned to Iida who seemed to be in stunned silence as he gazed at his old pupil. Suddenly, he snapped out of whatever trance he had been under and gave a sharp salute.

"It's my duty as the class 1-A representative to always be there for my class!" he shouted with a confident voice though the trembling of his arms gave away his fear.

"Hm. Commendable," Leia replied with a small smile as she looked around the room.

Nezu's eyes sparked knowingly as he hurried to a cabinet in the corner of his room. He opened it with a key and took out a worn-down goggle.

"Looking for this?"

Leia's eyes widened, and she nodded thankfully. Adjusting them under her eyes, she felt a rush of freedom. The wind that she had restrained from using when she had carried the injured teacher rushed towards her like an old friend, and she welcomed the winds to gather around her with open arms. More and more they answered her call, and soon the swirling vortex she had created was dense enough to be visible to the beholder.

"Are you sure you will be able to carry all of us?" Nezu asked with a bit of concern.

The only reply he received was a smirk.

o - o - o - o - o

Midoriya stared with horror as the purple mist and Shigaraki closed in on All Might.

 _After his fight with the Nomu…_

He felt a spark of desperation ignite within him.

 _All Might has most likely gone past his limit…_

With a guttural cry, he launched himself at the shadow with all his might; his legs flopped uselessly behind him, broken, as he soared through the air, arm stretched out to punch the metal core of the shadow villain.

"GET AWAY FROM ALL MIGHT!" he cried, his voice filled with desperation and anger.

 _I can reach it. The metal core._

He closed in on the shadow villain, but just as he was about to reach its core, a hand suddenly pierced through the purple mist of the shadow villain, reaching towards his face.

Time seemed to slow down as he gazed at the hand with terror.

His mind flashed to the smell of burned flesh.

Melted skin on Aizawa-sensei's elbow…

The shouts, and the cries of fear from his friends when they had witnessed it.

But it was too late. He couldn't change the course he was heading in.

Distantly, he heard the mad cackle as the villain laughed, entertained by his nearing doom. But he took no notice of it. Eyes wide with fear, his mind could focused only on the hand that was seconds from reaching him—

-A sharp sound, then

Red

A spray of blood filled his vision as the hand which had been reaching for him suddenly vanished with a cry of pain. Horrified, he turned to see the severed hand fall to the ground before rolling a few feet away.

"CLASS 1-A PRESIDENT IIDA TENYA! REPORTING FOR DUTY!"

Relief filled him as he heard his friend's voice. He had brought reinforcements.

"Kurogiri!" the villain shrieked.

Instantly, the shadow villain along with the leader disappeared only to reappear even closer to All Might.

 _All Might!_

Midoriya watched with a sense of helplessness as the ground approached him at a startling speed.

o - o - o - o - o

In one moment, he was readying himself for the impact, and in the next, he felt himself being plucked from the air. It had happened so fast that in the next blink of an eye, he found himself in Sylph's arms who was now standing right beside All Might as the two villains closed in on them.

"Midoriya-shounen! Leia!" All Might exclaimed when Leia suddenly appeared beside him with his protégé in her arms.

"Midoriya," Leia hissed quietly, "what happened to staying a safe distance _away_ from the fight?"

Midoriya gulped as stern emerald eyes turned towards him, pinning him down in an intense stare. He subtly glanced at his mentor who quickly shook his head, indicating to him that Leia knew nothing about the situation.

"Ah. Well, you see…" All Might laughed nervously as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Leia turned towards him, eyes glinting in irritation with a scowl on her face. The number one hero shivered at her expression, rethinking his decision to lie.

Her eyes narrowed at his mannerisms, but with two oncoming villains, she decided that she would figure it out later.

"L-Leia!" Midoriya yelped as the villains neared.

Immediately, she took note of the shadow villain that had injured Thirteen. She tensed when she remembered his quirk.

 _He'll warp any attack I send at him, and who knows who the attack will land on._

 _No. I need to observe him a bit longer._

Quickly, she grabbed the hero, and along with Midoriya who she was already carrying in her right arm, she leapt into the air, vanishing and reappearing as far as she could from the rest of the students and the teachers. "Do either of you know his weakness?"

Both mentor and protégé stared at each other. Their face pale with a tinge of green as they fought their urge to hurl whatever they had eaten for their last two meals. With her goggles, on the speed that she had moved them was… disorienting at the very least, All Might thought as a drop of sweat rolled down his face.

"Besides his metal core or the part of his body that shows through the dark fog…" Midoriya said weakly as he collapsed onto the ground with a small wobble, "not really."

Leia frowned. The villain's quirk was a bad matchup for her. She largely preferred attacking from a distance, and when she did attack close-ranged, her attacks relied more on her agility rather than on raw power. Even if she was able to hit the metal core of the shadow, she doubted that she could do much damage.

She watched as the villains looked around the area in confusion when their opponents had suddenly disappeared. _Perhaps…_

Leia concentrated on the air that surrounded the two villains, and carefully, she formed needle thin slivers of wind. Silently, she shot one directly at the shadowed villain and watched with satisfaction as he turned towards the direction the attack had come from before warping her attack to a nearby bush.

The bush exploded as her attack pierced through the ground, leaving a gaping hole as dust filled the air.

Immediately, she shot another one from a random direction and watched as the villain redirected the attack to a nearby stone sitting around three meters away. Like the bush, the stone shattered on impact and debris rained down from the sky.

Quickening her pace, she increased her attacks and watched curiously as the villain became flustered and began warping her attacks to closer and closer distances from himself. None of them were warped more than three meters away.

"Three meters," Leia muttered quietly, hidden away from the villains.

Midoriya watched with no little interest as Sylph discovered another of the villain's flaws. "Do you think we can win?" he asked her quietly, noting that All Might was exhausted. There wouldn't be much time before he would be forced to transform back.

Leia attempted to look for the villains who were now hidden from her in the cloud of dust that had arisen from her attacks. She could clear it with her wind, but she couldn't forget the way the shadow had occasionally twisted his head to glance at a nearby object before her attacks would be redirected to said location.

 _His warping most likely relies on his sight._

The cloud of dust would hinder both his abilities and her own.

"I think it would be doable if there were fewer students here," she finally answered.

Midoriya cocked his head and thought for a while before his eyes lit up with understanding.

"Your attacks would be at a huge disadvantage if there are students or other people near him."

She gave the young boy a small smile.

"Correct. A close-combat quirk would probably be better suited in this situation if you wanted to choose the safest option for the people around you, though, I should add, it would also be more dangerous for the user themselves."

The cloud of dust had begun to settle, and just as it did so, the loud sound of gunshots filled the air as bullets rained down on the leader. The leader of the villains howled with pain as the bullets met their mark before the cloud of fog fell protectively around him, warping the bullets to some other location.

Leia's eyes narrowed at the exposed core of the shadow.

 _Between himself and his leader…_

A predatory smile adorning her lips, she gathered up her power and with a sharp snap of her fingers, a howling rush of wind formed around her hand.

The closest trees around her were torn from their roots and tossed carelessly aside revealing a direct path towards the villain.

She smirk as the shadow turned towards her. Her eyes met the widened gaze of the shadow's and with another snap of her fingers, the wind that had been building in power formed into a sharp bolt that she directed towards its metal core.

 _Who will you protect?_

The wind whistled through the air; the bullets relentlessly rained down on the villains.

Leia held her breath and grinned with grim satisfaction as her wind pierced through the core of the shadow, a cry of pain echoed through the USJ as his blood spilled on the ground.

"Tomura, we need to return now!" the shadow bit out as the fog closed around himself and his leader.

"Leia!" Midoriya yelled as he saw the villains fade despite Thirteen's attempt to capture them, "they're going to escape!"

Leia opened her palms and allowed the wind to gather again.

 _If capture is not possible… then death is the only option remaining._

Suddenly, she felt a strong hand grip her arm.

"A hero does not kill unless there is no other way," All Might said sternly.

She turned around to find All Might staring at her expectantly with a serious expression.

Leia hesitated for a brief moment before she dropped her hand and cancelled her quirk.

The shadow smirked as it stared at her, and she tensely watched as the leader disappeared into the fog; his last words haunting as he breathed his vow of revenge to the Symbol of Peace before the two villains disappeared.

o - o - o - o - o

"You thought it would be smart to _not_ inform me that it was _All Might_ who was having—what did you call it?" Leia sneered, "health issues?"

Nezu shuffled uncomfortably behind his desk. "It's classified information. Imagine what would happen if the public or the villains found out!" he squeaked.

Leia heaved a quiet sigh as she flopped onto the couch in her old mentor's office. They sat quietly in each other's company in comfortable silence as they sipped their tea.

Nezu was looking through various damage bills before he heard a small chuckle. He looked up to see a fond smile on his pupil's lips as she inspected the goggles in her hands.

"I'm surprised you still have this," she said quietly.

Nezu hid a smile as he looked down on the papers strewn all over his desk. "Well, I'm afraid I'd have to admit that my first meeting with you was definitely the most interesting meeting I've had with any of the interns I had trained.

Leia's lips twitched into a sheepish smile. "I was a reckless fool who was over her own head when I first met you."

"For good reason though," Nezu relented, "I was and still am surprised you chose me amongst all the other offers you received."

"Well, you know, Endeavour really isn't the best hero to intern with if you're trying to learn how to think with a level head," Leia said dryly.

Nezu smirked. "I'd agree, but as the principal of the U.A., I'm afraid I'll have to tell you that I have no comment on that subject."

Leia laughed before she sighed softly.

Nezu blinked in curiosity, seeing that something was actually bothering his pupil.

"What is it, Leia?"

Leia's eyes shifted to meet his before her gaze dropped.

"If I had only known… he might not have needed to be this injured. I would have thought twice before leaving All Might to face the villains on his own," she said regretfully.

"It wasn't meant for you to know," Nezu said seriously. "You made the best call you could with the information you had."

"He was coughing up blood when the medics arrived…"

"And one of our teachers could have been dead if you had not done what you did," Nezu said sharply. "Besides," he chuckled lightly, "coughing up blood isn't anything special for him—happens on a daily basis actually."

Leia blinked. "What?" she asked incredulously.

Nezu chuckled at the look on Leia's face. "Anyways, have you visited Thirteen in the clinic yet? I heard that she awoke a few hours ago."

"Oh?" Leia said as she set down her tea, interest piqued. "Well then, I had better head down and thank her for letting me pass her course," she said with a smirk as she strolled out the office after bidding goodbye to her mentor.

The halls were deserted as she walked to the nurse's clinic. It _was_ 9 at night. Arriving at the door to the nurse's office, she gave a quiet knock before she let herself in. "Chiyo-san," Leia said quietly, not wanting to disturb any of the patients.

Recovery Girl looked up as she heard her name. A wide grin stretched across her old face as she spotted Leia by the door.

"Leia, so you finally decide to show up after god knows how many years to visit me?"

She held her hands up in surrender. "In my defense, I just met up with Nezu yesterday."

Recovery Girl gave a small snort at that. "Well, I'm guessing you're here for Thirteen?" she asked.

"Yeah. Is she awake?"

"I'm not sure, but you can go and check. Her injuries were nowhere near as severe as Aizawa's."

"Eraserhead?" Leia clarified.

"That's the one. It's a good thing you brought him when you did. He was in a rough shape in the first three hours of treatment."

"Oh…" she trailed off. She hadn't really thought about the scruffy hero actually, after all, she didn't know him. "Well, I just wanted to pop in to say a quick hello to Thirteen."

Recovery Girl gave a brisk nod in the direction where the two injured heroes were. "Just go through that left door over there—Oh and Aizawa is there too, so make sure to keep quiet."

Leia nodded in understanding before thanking Recovery Girl for her help.

She knocked quietly before she entered. The room was dark, but she could faintly make out the silhouettes of the two teachers in their respective beds. Walking over to the bed that Thirteen's costume was leaning on, she quickly noted that she was fast asleep. Not wanting to disturb her, she turned to head towards the exit when she tripped over an object. She cursed under breath as she managed to right herself in the last minute.

"Who's there?" a voice rasped out.

Leia stilled. Her hand hovered by the doorknob. She hesitated for a brief moment, wondering if she should leave, but when she heard the sound of quickened breathing and shifting blankets, she found herself turning back to the only other occupant in the room.

 _Of course,_ she mentally scolded herself for being an idiot, _after the trauma of that fight, someone walking into the room unannounced and in the dark would put him on edge._

She knew it had been a while since she acted in the capacity as a hero, but to make such a beginner mistake… she shook her head, slightly disappointed in herself. She didn't even want to think of her dear mentor's expression if he found out about this incident.

Quietly and carefully, she picked her way over to the bed that was on the right side of the room beside a window. A polite distance away from the bed, but close enough for the man to see her, she carefully studied the man that she had carried back from the USJ. Seeing her, he had ceased in his struggle to sit up. His gaze, sharp and alert, scoured every inch of her, cataloguing her expression and posture. She held herself still until the man cautiously relaxed back onto the bed, his eyes never leaving hers. Taking slow steps forward, she felt her breath catch; her eyes widened, frozen almost with shock.

She had known that his condition was severe. Recovery Girl and Nezu had both repeatedly told her that it was a close call for the hero; that her choice to bring the hero back instead of helping All Might fight had been the correct one. But she had never truly believed that. She had _longed_ to stay and fight alongside the number-one hero—

She swallowed hard, her pulse thrumming as she swept her gaze over his body, lingering on the elbow that she vividly remembered had been skinned and had been dripping in blood…

—no, that was a lie. She had known that he needed emergency medical attention, but the part of her that lived for the thrill of a fight, the part of her that she would ashamedly confess to having been slightly irritated to being forced to go back…

Her lips tightened in displeasure to her own thoughts. She had been living so freely, wandering the world defeating and capturing villains that she had almost forgotten the value and importance of a life. If Thirteen hadn't been there to order her to go back…

 _His life would have been forfeit…_

Her hand hovered hesitatingly over his hand. A quick glance to the man showed that the edge in his gaze had relaxed to a lazy, tired stare. Slowly, she brushed her hand over the inner side of his wrist. The soft beating of his pulse was the final thing needed for her push her haunting thoughts of what could have been away from her mind.

Her shoulders straightened into a more professional stance and she quickly strode to the bedside where she filled an empty cup with the pitcher of water.

"I heard you cough, so I thought you might want some water," Leia said with an easy smile.

 _His life would have been forfeit… and that fault would rest solely on me._

o - o - o - o - o

Aizawa's eyes widened when he met the emerald eyes which seemed to glow softly as they observed him.

 _Those eyes…_

His mind flashed back to when he had painfully tried to breach his consciousness. The wind had been whistling at an astounding speed as they had traveled, yet despite the resounding pain that thrummed throughout his body, he distinctly remembered the warmth...

 _I remember her._

He tiredly tracked the fluctuation of emotions that crossed her expression. Too fast for him to understand.

"I heard you cough, so I thought you might want some water."

He could feel the burn of his parched throat and so made an aborted motion to sit up once again. To his surprise, he felt a warm gust curl around his upper body, helping him up carefully. _So it was her_ , he thought to himself as he slowly drank the water. Her face was now turned to face the window, gazing at the night sky with a sort of longing. This close to him, the moonlight seemed to lend a pearly glow to her skin. Her golden hair fell softly, framing her startling green eyes. _With a quirk and appearance like that I would have expected her to make the rankings, but I don't remember ever seeing her. Is she a new hero?... no, she's too skilled…_

Finishing the water, he cleared his throat to recapture her attention. "You're the one that helped All Might and my class out, right? Hizashi wouldn't stop talking about you," he said dryly.

Her lips twitched into a genuine smile. Only after taking the cup back from him, and carefully laying him back down, did she answer with a small nod. "I'm glad I was of help."

"From what I heard, you did much more than simply help with the fight," he replied bluntly.

 _Saliva dripped from the roof of its mouth, painting splatters on the dirt before him as the small beady eyes of the monster narrowed at him in a mocking manner—the hand that held his head down—_

Aizawa felt his breathing quicken before he forced himself to take even breaths, his eyes squeezing shut as he attempted to clear his thoughts.

A hand cautiously held his arm in a grounding grip. Concentrating on the touch of warmth, he felt his shuddering stop. Opening his eyes carefully, he looked at his visitor, and how her eyes had shifted to look out the window in a sheepish fashion, carefully giving him privacy.

"Well… um. I'd say that everyone pulled in equal weight." She replied lightly with a laugh. Her eyes shifted back to his with a mischievous sparkle. "Including the students. I offered to carry them back to safety, but they refused. Said they'd protect their teachers."

"They're reckless and idiotic children," he mumbled tiredly with an aggravated sigh. "Should have expelled the whole lot of them."

Leia made a noncommittal sound though her eyes glinted knowingly at him.

He blinked dully at her. _Why does everyone think I have a soft spot on my class?_

"Either way, you have my thanks," he grumbled.

She nodded politely and removed her grip on his wrist as she headed for the exit.

"Hey," he said after a moment. "Just call me Shouta. You did save my life after all."

The emerald eyes shone as they lit up with pleasure at his words, and the gentle smile which formed on her face seemed to wrest his breath away as she said her next words.

"Then call me Leia."


	5. Piquing Interest

**A/N:** Hello! It's been almost a year since my last update, so my writing has changed a bit. Because of this, I've edited/rewritten the previous chapters (adding/removing scenes/corrected continuity errors).

* * *

 **Chapter 5: Piquing Interest**

Leia sat next to All Might who was still resting at the nurse's office; Midoriya slept soundly in the other bed. She itched to settle into the more comfortable position of having one leg propped up on the chair but refrained from doing so. From what she could remember from her past job, that would have been a terribly impolite and unprofessional thing to do.

As there was an investigation going on in the school, Nezu had called a meeting in this location to ensure All Might's privacy. She turned to look at All Might who was gazing blankly at the ceiling. If not for the fact that she had seen him transform, well shrivel to be more exact, into the skeletal form she was currently looking at, she would never had believed or even guessed that this _thing_ was the same person as the Symbol of Peace.

"Surprised?"

She made a noncommittal sound.

"Nezu made it clear that it was important, if not urgent, for me to come back to U.A. But you know," she said thoughtfully, "I didn't want to come back."

All Might shifted slightly so that he could face her as she spoke.

She was a rather free spirit. Unbound and unconstrained by the laws that governed a hero's action. Almost like a vigilante except she was licensed legally to use her quirk. But from what he heard from Nezu, after working a few years an overseas agency, she had left and wandered around capturing villains.

He didn't know how he felt about her. Heroes never killed, and he had seen that she had no qualms in killing if it really came down to it in battle. In one moment she had a playful smile. Excitement coursing through her body, and in the next, her emerald eyes had darkened thunderously as she gazed at the shadow villain who, from what he gathered, had injured Thirteen.

Her eyes shifted so that she now stared directly at him, and he was surprised by the severity in her expression. "I didn't know exactly how urgent the matter was, however, until now. The villains would have a field day about this if they ever found out."

Really, he didn't know what to think of her and of her knowing his secret. She was erratic; changeable. And that was a dangerous quality to have in a hero.

"And that is why I called you," Nezu said as he squeezed through the door and entered the room. His fur was a bit more ruffled than normal, but nonetheless tidy. He reached up to lock the door in vain before he settled back down and looked hopelessly at Leia.

Leia rolled her eyes in reply. "Don't be lazy, sensei."

"What a mean student I have," he said clicking his tongue with irritation, dropping his façade. All Might blinked in surprise at the familiarity the principal showed to the young woman.

With a huff, the small animal pulled out a contraption and swung it up to the doorknob. It did its work, and the door was locked. Nezu patted down his ruffled fur and walked over.

"Now, Leia, as you should know, what you have seen—" he gestured to All Might—"must be kept to yourself with the utmost secrecy."

"Of course. You have my word." Her eyes shifted to All Might before returning to Nezu. "But this all makes sense now. Why you'd hire All Might as a teacher when he could be more effective out patrolling the streets… why he'd even accept the job."

Nezu stared back steadily under his student's scrutiny.

"What do you plan to do when the secret comes out?"

Nezu and All Might glanced at each other.

"Well, for now we are just trying to keep it quiet, but hopefully by then, we will have a new Symbol of Peace" Nezu said.

"That's why I'm here—to train the next Symbol," All Might added.

Leia tilted her head thoughtfully as she recounted the past events that had lead her here. Narrowing in thought, her eyes swept over to the green-haired boy who was fast asleep… the only student who seemed to know about the hero's condition if his strange concern during the fight was anything to note…

Nezu smirked. His ears twitched happily as he puffed up slightly in pride at the speed his past pupil pieced the facts together.

"Him," she turned to Nezu. "Really?" she said skeptically. Sure he seemed semi-intelligent, but he looked wimpy, and he lacked the charisma and self-confidence that one needed to have to be the Symbol of Peace—the hero whose presence itself was enough to comfort the mass and ensure the victory.

Nezu chuckled lightly, but not without a hint of skepticism. "Well, it was All Might's choice."

Both student and mentor turned to look at the hero who was lying still on the hospital bed.

All Might held his hands up in a placating manner. "He's not there quite yet, but I have absolute faith that Midoriya-shounen will become an amazing hero," All Might said confidently.

Leia studied him with an intensity that made him stiffen in alert. Then she blinked as if she had decided on something, and the moment was over.

The seriousness in her eyes vanished as she yawned, tiredly rubbed her eyes. "Good for you guys then, I guess. You have a plan and all, and since I've already sworn my silence on your secret, I'll just be heading out now. Yeah?"

"Eh—Leia!" Nezu exclaimed, his furry paws tugged lightly on the edge of her pants when she moved to leave. "Have you given any thought to the position?"

 _The position…_ Her gaze slid to All Might. Her lips pursed tightly. Enjoying a good fight with a villain or a hero was one thing, but that didn't mean she wanted to be caught up in any sort of war _. Then there's the media as well. It's sure to be a shitshow when his secret is found._

Kneeling down, she picked up her mentor to plop him on the chair she had been sitting on. "Nezu," she said sighing. "Look, we both know that I didn't want the job, and seeing All Might in that condition, well, even if I did win…" she shrugged sheepishly, "I don't think I'd even feel good about it."

His tails and ears drooped. "So you're leaving? So soon, Leia?"

She gave a half-smile at her mentor's attempt to guilt her. "Honestly, I don't even feel motivated to fight him anymore. Thirteen needs to rest, and the other teachers that I care to fight are pretty preoccupied with the investigation. Besides, the press have been swarming the school, and you know how I feel about them."

"And the villains? Your help would be appreciated by the hero agency in Japan," All Might said; his electric blue eyes studied the strange young woman.

She stared flatly at him. Her lips stretched into a wide, insincere grin.

"Well, All Might," she said cheerfully with a clap of her hands, "from the way I see it, this war that is brewing is none of my problem, really. I like a good fight. I do! But dabbling in something this large is a sure way to lose my anonymity. Besides, I'm not an active hero anymore. I don't have such duty to my country, nevermind to Japan. So with that said—"

Leia bowed deeply to her old mentor and repeated it to the recovering hero. "I'll be leaving in a few days once I've done my sightseeing. Take care!"

She spun around and quickly left the room, leaving a small breeze stirring in her wake. Nezu gazed sadly at the closed door, while All Might could only gape incredulously.

"Was young Leia always like that, Nezu?"

"She's always been quite self-serving for a hero. Very impulsive when I first met her," he said with a faint smile as he settled down on the chair. "When she came back, she still seemed impulsive, but the rationale and logic that I had tried to teach her seemed to bear fruit. I was happy. But," he paused as his ears drooped even more, "it seems that in her travels alone, she's become a bit more… self-centered."

 _She's found freedom, and she doesn't want to give it up_ , Nezu thought silently. He understood that, he really did. _But I hope she won't forget that there are things just as important as freedom._

"Ah…" All Might trailed off, when suddenly, his eyes widened. "My secret—"

Nezu glanced at him then chuckled. "She won't let it slip, don't worry, Toshinori-san. She's not a conventional hero, but when it comes down to it, I don't doubt her alignment with the good."

"But she's not a hero, not anymore, at least," Toshinori said in a serious tone. Privately, he wondered how he had never heard of a hero by the name of Leia. Her quirk was nothing to scoff at; she must have made it to the news at some point of time…

"She rejects the job of a hero and all the constraints that come with it, for sure." Nezu hummed. "But a hero is more than just the title you get after your pro-hero license. You should understand that better than any teacher here. After all, that's why you chose him, isn't it?"

Toshinori closed his eyes in defeat. There was no arguing with Nezu once he had set his mind on something. He turned to look at the bed beside him where Midoriya-shounen had shifted slightly in his sleep, and his eyes softened slightly.

o - o - o - o - o

"I'll be leaving now, Chiyo-san!" Leia hollered cheerfully to Recovery Girl as she swept out of the nurse's office.

"So soon? Well, don't forget to visit again," Chiyo scolded her lightly.

Leia popped her head back in sheepishly before giving a thumbs up. "I'll try my best," she said.

She yelped quietly when she heard the sound of papers being thrown at the door she had just closed along with a loud yell of, "don't try. Do!"

She rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly as she walked down the halls that were bustling with activity. Fading into the background as easily as she had always done, she couldn't help but linger in the discomfort she felt every time Nezu's disappointed expression flashed through her mind. She was such a sucker for those drooped ears and tail, even when she knew that he was just trying to guilt-trip her into doing something. And she hadn't even told Thirteen yet that she was leaving. She groaned in irritation. Who knew that the price of freedom was so high?

The light from the sun was beginning to diminish; the warm gradient hues in the sky sunk into the colder tones of night. She shivered slightly as a particularly chilly breeze wafted through the air, rustling the leaves around her feet. It was definitely time to head back to the hotel.

As she walked towards the exit, she startled slightly when she heard a quiet shuffle to her right. Carefully, she turned around and very nearly shrieked when she saw a huge yellow _blob—_ or wait was that a caterpillar—sitting on the ground, leaning against the metal plated walls of the school building.

On top of the yellow body, sat what seemed to be a severed, mummified head. Slowly, it turned around to face her; its black, tangled hair sitting like wet kelp on top of the stringy bandages. The eyes that she could see peering through the bandages were bloodshot, staring at her with a focused intensity, and when it made a muffled sound, she would never admit the little sound of "eep" that had left her mouth.

It gave another irritated grunt, snapping her out of her surprise.

"Aizawa-san?" she called out tentatively, still hesitant to address him by his actual name.

A slight nod.

She let out a sigh of relief before she settled near him. She gazed at his tired expression. His head wound which had been perfectly fine when she had met him yesterday night seemed to have opened up slightly, and she noted with concern the dried blood that streaked down his temple.

"Can I ask what you are doing outside?" she asked, taking in the scruffy hero beside her.

"I was taking a walk."

"With a sleeping bag?"

"…"

Leia sighed as he returned to his unreadable silence. What was she supposed to do anyways? She froze just as she got up from the ground; surprised when she saw that a mummified hand had latched on to her wrist, halting her movement. Having gained her attention, its owner released its grip and pointed to a familiar looking trail. Her eyes widened.

 _That's the… oh…_

"It could have gone very differently if not for your help. I wanted to thank you," he said bluntly.

"You already did," she said lightly as settled back down, gazing thoughtfully at the trail that led to the USJ building. The invigoration… _the excitement_ …

She shook her head slightly to clear off her thoughts and sighed. She simply wasn't suited to be a hero. She knew this, she always did. Altruism was severely lacking in her, in even her own opinion, and now she had found something she enjoyed doing that satisfied some of the fundamental duties of being a hero.

She subtly shifted her gaze to her side, staring at the tired-looking hero. She had heard of how, even when he was semi-conscious, had stopped the villain with the decaying quirk from touching one of his students. Now _that_ was heroic.

Perhaps feeling her gaze, Aizawa shifted to match her stare with his own dull eyes. He blinked in surprise at the admiration he saw before those emerald eyes filled with amusement. Not terribly interested in what she was thinking, he looked away, his thoughts returning to his silent pondering.

o - o - o - o - o

When a stronger chill settled and Leia shivered, she decided that she had reflected and pondered on the unchangeable long enough. She got up from the ground, breaking the monotonous stillness of the scene. "Well, I think that's enough for tonight," she chirped. "You should head back too."

The bundle of yellow shifted slowly, trying to regain some circulation to his limbs after having been stationary for so long. The minor headache when he had first left the nurse's office had now grown into a steady pounding; almost as if a hammer was driving a nail into the side of his head. Blearily, he looked up at the sky, and finally noticed that it had turned dark without his knowing. It had still been day when his thoughts had suddenly seized a hold of him, causing him to sit down and reflect on how things could have gone better. _On how things had gone so wrong._ Seeing Leia waiting for him, he took a deep breath, and forced his legs to move as he heaved himself up.

 _Bad decision,_ he knew as soon as he attempted the action.

His world suddenly blackened, and he felt himself tilting at an alarming rate. The pain threatened to split his head in two, and he squeezed his eyes shut in a pathetic attempt to alleviate the sudden rush of dizziness. Stumbling back a step, he blindly reached for the wall—when he felt hands, steady hands in a familiar grip guide him carefully to lean against the wall. He stiffened on the contact, eyes flashing open with a slight grunt of pain to stare uncomfortably at the hand.

"Should I walk you to the nurse's office?" she asked, concern etched clearly on her features as she removed her hand once she decided that he wouldn't fall over.

 _Rationally, I should get Chiyo-san to look over me again…_ the eyes peeping through the mask of bandages peered blearily at the young woman in front of him. _But I'll be damned if I have to listen to her lecture with this headache._

"No. I'll be heading back to my apartment."

Leia watched in silence as the underground hero who had piqued her interest hobble away from her towards the teacher's quarters. She tilted her head in curiousity when his jaw twitched again as he gritted his teeth in what she assumed to be pain. It was going to be a long walk for him if he was walking at that speed. While most of the teachers all lived on campus, their quarters were still a distance from the main building where they were currently at. _Why doesn't he just ask for my help? He must have an idea of what my quirk is by now._

Still, who was she to impose her company on someone?

"Well, if you're certain," she called to his retreating back.

Aizawa grunted in response.

 _How verbose_ , she thought dryly.

Springing up from the ground, she hovered up to the roof of the U.A building, taking care to conceal herself as she watched the scruffy hero silently make his way to the teacher's quarters. She followed him quietly with an awareness that the perpetrator who had let the villains in still had yet to be found. It would be a pity if Eraserhead was attacked in his weakened state before she could have a proper fight with him.

Ever since she had overheard from the students that Eraserhead had handled the mass majority of the villains, she had wondered what his quirk could possibly be. A smile crept on her lips.

 _How interesting_.

Never mind the trouble that was stirring. Villains were always everywhere; the cycle of the rise and fall of good and evil was one she had seen often in her travels. No, this was _far_ more interesting.

She followed him patiently, on the lookout for anything out of the norm when she heard the ear-shattering voice of the famous radio host, Present Mic.

"HEEEYYY! SHOUTA!"

Leia winced and rubbed her ears with an unhappy frown. She was a good distance away from the quarters and she could _still_ hear every word _too_ loud and clear.

She saw Aizawa visibly flinch from the sound—not surprising seeing as she was pretty sure he had a pounding headache, and after a greeting to his friend with sentences that probably contained a few insults, he glared at Present Mic who seemed to sheepishly disappear back into his apartment.

Strangely, he continued to stand outside with his back leaned against his apartment door, searching the area before him. Leia watched him curiously from the skies before his gaze settled onto her. She stiffened in surprise. That he had even been able to sense that someone had followed him in his state… her smile widened. _Interesting_.

"You followed me here," he said bluntly when she floated in the air a foot away from him.

"Apparently so," she answered with a smile when she had settled on the balcony railing in front of his unit. The pro-hero hadn't phrased it as a question, so there was no point in her denying it. "And I was just about to head off as well."

He stared at her blandly with his bloodshot eyes. His hunched shoulders as he practically drooped against the door gave away his exhaustion. "I never asked, but are you a new hire?"

"No… probably not."

His eyes closed as his hand came up to massage the bridge of his nose.

"You should rest," she said with a crooked smile.

He stopped his motion and opened his eyes to give her a flat stare before sighing and unlocking the door to his unit.

Leia tilted her head in confusion as he hesitated at the foot of his door.

"The U.A. festival is coming up. With the publicity it is getting, and the amount of people that are going to be coming in and out of the school, it would be the perfect time for villains to try something again."

The smile fell from her lips.

"And?" her reply coming across in a frostier tone that she expected.

Aizawa felt his spine stiffen at the unexpected tone of her voice. Slowly, he turned around to face her. Her expression was blank, though conflicting emotions seem to run through her eyes. He wouldn't say that his heart sank, but an irrational amount of disappointment seemed to grip his mind. He pondered how he should ask her to do something she clearly did not want to do, but ultimately, subtlety and talking around the point had never been something he cared for.

"If possible, I want you to stay and help me and my class until I recover or when the tournament is over," he said bluntly.

 _He never thought that emerald green could look so cold_.

He dropped his gaze from hers. Exhaustion was steadily creeping into his mind and he was very ready to sleep. _And I have class to teach tomorrow_. His eyes fell half-shut. How tempting it was to close his eyes and not need to wake for the next day or two. He felt his posture sag.

An arm hesitatingly encircled around his waist, and he was pulled into a comforting warmth. He blinked tiredly at the young woman who floated them over to his bed.

"Hope you don't mind the intrusion," she said dryly once he had settled down.

He glared flatly at her in response.

Leia chuckled sheepishly at his expression. The pro-hero was basically asleep at this point. A section of black hair had fallen across his face, and unthinkingly, she reached out to brush it back. She stilled when she saw Aizawa sleepily staring at her.

"With your mop of hair, I'm surprised you don't suffocate when you sleep," she said teasingly as she recovered her hand, hiding her embarrassment.

He grunted and very deliberately shut his eyes.

Perhaps it was because this man had been nothing but honest with his intentions unlike Nezu, or because he was probably only half-aware at the moment, but she found the words spilling out her mouth.

"I don't think I can help you, especially not with guiding your students. I'm not a hero. I don't think I ever really was."

She relaxed on the ground with her back leaning against the bed. She stared at the darkness of the pro-hero's apartment. Faintly, she could make out several pieces of furniture and appliances. There were few—you could count them on one hand. He was a very practical person.

"And no—" she laughed quietly, "before you can arrest me for unauthorized use of my quirk, I'll tell you that I _do_ have a pro-hero license. I was actually the top of my year. I did so well in my studies that my school sponsored me a transfer to U.A. for my second year. I excelled in everything there too—well except for rescue training."

Her lips quirked into a small smile at the memories of her and Thirteen trying to figure out how to cooperate in a group despite her inability to communicate when using her quirk.

"But I don't think a pro-hero license is what makes a hero," she mumbled quietly.

She got up from the ground having said what was on her mind. Dusting off her pants, she headed silently towards the opened apartment door.

"You wouldn't be a good pro-hero," a voice, husky with sleep drawled out, halting her movements immediately. She allowed herself to feel a small wash of disappointment before shaking it off. He wasn't the first person who had told her that, after all. Hastily, she hurried out.

 _Her willingness to kill if needed. Her being more concerned with Thirteen's condition than rescuing the other students to safety. And while small it was telling: her forgetfulness at following the pro-hero's protocol when dealing with a patient with trauma._

Aizawa was not blind to her faults. Much like her quirk she lived in freedom, unhappy to be bound or constrained by laws or protocol.

 _The way she immediately threw herself into action to protect Thirteen, someone she cared about. The warmth of her hands as she held him. The gentleness; the calmness; the steady reassurance he had heard as he had passed in and out of consciousness. Her grip on his hands that provided an anchor for his turmoiled thoughts. Her watch over him as he had foolishly decided to walk back to his apartment._

No, she'd never be a good pro-hero. Too unconventional for what the law would deem to be good. But—

"—But I think you have the potential to be a great hero."

Leia froze in her spot just outside the door; eyes widened with surprise.

"And thank you."

Leia whipped around to see the knowing glint in the hero's eyes as he said the words before the door closed quietly, the small click echoing in the stillness of the night. She could only stare at the shut door in shock and in confusion. Slowly, a small smile found its way onto her lips. She wondered what he was thanking her for. For helping his students? For saving him? For watching over him as he walked back?

Her smile grew wider and her eyes sparkled fondly as she thought of the scruffy hero.

The lights of the apartment complex flickered, drawing to it tiny fireflies and moths that danced around its warmth. They sought solace from the harsh coldness that had now settled in the air, permeating every single pore of her skin as she hovered in front of the apartment. She could count on her hand the number of people who knew her and still thought her to be a hero.

A grin split across her face.

 _How interesting._

* * *

 **A/N:** To be honest, I've fallen out of this fandom for a while now, and I only came back with the intention of finishing the story (will probably try to end it in the next few arcs). So, the updates will probably be pretty slow.

I haven't seen the newest season of the anime, much less read the manga, so if any of you see any super out of character moments, please let me know!

Thanks for reading!


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